• Animal protection organisation releases new footage showing widespread mistreatment of chickens on free-range and cage-free egg farms in Victoria.
• The footage, captured at five free-range and two barn-laid egg farms, shows sick, injured and dead hens, including ones that have been left to rot in sheds.
• The footage was captured by anonymous investigators earlier in the year.

New footage published by Farm Transparency Project (FTP) shows chickens living in filth amongst dead and dying hens, across seven free-range and barn-laid egg farms in Victoria, including suppliers to major supermarkets.

Footage from the farms shows overcrowded sheds, chickens with serious wounds, cannibilisation and sheds containing dead chickens who appear to have been trampled upon by other chickens and by workers. Footage from well-known free-range egg producer Josh's Rainbow Eggs showed hens with missing feathers and wounds - signs of feather pecking due to close confinement and boredom. Photos and footage from just weeks later reveal data indicating that over 100 birds had died in a single shed since their last visit. 

Other farms investigated include Farm Pride, a major supplier to Coles-Brand Free Range Eggs and Valley Park Farms, which is sold in Coles and Woolworths.

FTP director Harley McDonald-Eckersall says that the footage reveals the reality behind the misleading and deceptive labelling attached to free-range and 'cage-free' eggs. 

"People who buy free-range or cage-free do so because they have been told that this is an ethical alternative to caged eggs. But what we're seeing is far from ethical. The footage we've received shows that major free-range egg producer, Farm Pride, keeps their young hens in battery cages for up to four months before moving them to overcrowded sheds. It shows chickens laying pale, jelly-like eggs due to malnutrition, dead hens who have been crushed by other chickens, and chickens with mutilated eyes and legs."

"This industry is lying to consumers. It's hiding the suffering of millions of hens behind buzzwords such as 'ethical' and 'natural.' Consumers deserve to know the truth about where their food is coming from, and these producers should be held to account for their misleading and deceptive conduct, as well as for their abuses towards the animals in their care."

The group says that it was anonymously provided with the footage, which was captured throughout 2025, and has verified the locations. They confirm that the footage was all recieved by the group a number of months ago and that there have been no reported biosecurity incidents at any of the farms following the visits.